Making a splash about basin repair

Making a splash about basin repair

May 19th, 2011

One of the stranger references I could find related when researching the history of the wash basin was when, in 1864, a gentleman called Stephen Foster – apparently one of the first composers of pop music, died in a New York hospital after falling over one in a drunken stupor – this blogger wonders if the hospital called in the local equivalent of Plastic Surgeon to undertake the basin repair, being that they couldn’t do anything to save the poor man.

Back on this side of the Pond, Thomas Twyford started making pottery basins as early as 1849, which were either free-standing or built into elaborate washstands; as well as producing the characteristic violin-shaped bidets of the period, which were set into cabinets or four-legged stools.

Nowadays, basins are quite sophisticated and manufactured from a variety of materials such as vitreous enamel, plastic and steel, as well as glass, marble and granite. And, as with all other elements of a building, basin repair is one of the jobs that we at Plastic Surgeon regularly get called upon to do.

We can fill chips, scratches and gouges to all the materials above – even large holes in basins can be repaired in plastic, stone and enamel basins. Our finisher fills and sands down the damage. And then out come the paints and stains, with which our operative carefully mixes by hand for a perfect colour match – though you’d be amazed how many different hues of white that basins come in. But our team of repair specialists can also colour match other finishes, getting fine artists’ brushes out, if necessary, to copy the veins in marble.

Glass basins must be impossible to repair, I hear you say – well, you’re wrong. Scratches and chips to this material we simply polish out, using increasingly fine abrasive pastes. The skill, though, is that our operative has to judge the work very carefully to ensure that he or she does not make too noticeable a ‘dish’ in the glass, which could create a jarring distortion. So carefully feathering out of the damage, along with constant visual checks, is a very important part of the training each finisher receives.

Our basin repair service means that we come to you and do the work in-situ. No having to rip out damaged basins and replace them, or make good the surrounding tiling, and you avoid the expense of having to call in a plumber. So saving money, mess and disruption. Plus you can feel good about not sending yet more waste to landfill.

It is difficult to predict where design, or the water saving agenda, will take the form of basins in the future, but you can be certain Plastic Surgeon will be on hand to put right any damage caused to these diverse receptacles.